Greeting’s jazz aficionados, it’s great to be with you at this moment as I wrap up 2012 with a sneak preview of forthcoming jazz recordings for 2013 featuring a variety of artists playing stimulating yet provocative music in various shades, moods and textures hopefully will satisfy your ongoing taste for quality music. In closing, HAPPY NEW YEAR in advance with all the blessings for you not only this coming new year but for years to come. –Rob Young | Urban Flux Media

FULL-LENGTH LABEL DEBUT NO BEGINNING NO END SET FOR JAN. 22 RELEASE IT’S ALL OVER YOUR BODY EP

José James

Singer-songwriter José James has signed to EMI’s Blue Note Records and is set to release his full-length label debut No Beginning No End on January 22. However, fans need not wait until then to get a taste of James’ intoxicating blend of jazz, hip-hop, and R&B. The vocalist has released the four-track It’s All Over Your Body EP today exclusively through iTunes. “It’s All Over Your Body” is also available now as a single through all other digital retailers and streaming services. iTunes is also currently featuring James’ song “Trouble” as their free Single of the Week. Continue reading →

The group started at a session Kris Davis called. They played for about and hour and Tyshawn Sorey suggested to turn it into collaboration. They have developed an almost telepathic way of interacting really deconstruct and improvise with the sometimes long and involved compositions. Everything is possible and each one of them is kept on his/her toes all the time.

All three musicians contribute their own unmistakable compositions to the group’s sound. “AllAboutJazz” has described their unique interplay as “a taut set, as if they’d agreed to avoid the easy way to make a fire and instead rubbed sticks telekinetically”. -[::: estrugamng.com :::]-

Wanderlust, the new recording from New Orleans guitarist/composer Cliff Hines, is a rich tapestry of ideas, inspirations and sounds patched together from various times and places in the world. It is a sonic journey, an electro-acoustic blend traveling from one culture to the next. In making this record, Hines and co-producer/engineer Ian Painter gathered together some of New Orleans’s finest musicians, including local legends James Singleton, Bill Summers, Kent Jordan, Dave Easley and Helen Gillet, coupled with some of the best musicians of the new generation, including Khris Royal, Ashlin Parker, Mike Watson, Rex Gregory, Sam Craft and Jack Craft. Hines’ core band features vocalist Sasha Masakowski, drummer Paul Thibodeaux, bassist Jasen Weaver, and pianist Andrew McGowan. While all of these musicians are well versed in jazz, rock, funk and many other genres, the music they created together on Wanderlust defies convention and categorization. Continue reading →

Edward Maclean has been operating in the deep frequency trade for some time now. Electric bass, double bass, and the occasional fat bass synth are his constant companions. He was born in Ghana, went to school in the far west of Germany and graduated from the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin where he currently lives.

His sound is rich,warm and has a lot of bottom with a little bit of grime in the middle. Holding down the time while keeping songs breathing – always focused on the overall sound – he has established himself as a sought after musical director. Continue reading →

There are snapshots in the family photo album of Grace Kelly at Scullers Jazz Club at the age of six, falling asleep in her father’s arms. When she began studying saxophone at the tender age of ten, she dreamed of one day performing on that very same stage. In those childhood visions, it was a much older Grace Kelly that she envisioned on the bandstand, but she made her Scullers debut at thirteen and held a CD release concert there the following year. Continue reading →

Magnanimus Trio is formed by three friends, Christos Barbas (piano, kaval, voice), Dimitris Tasoudis (drums, piano, voice) and Pavlos Spyropoulos (contrabass, voice) on September 2010. They met back in the 90s when they where co-students in the Music Studies Department in the Aristotle University of their city, Thessaloniki/Greece. Each of them has followed his own road, mixing musicalities and jobs both interesting and diverse. Continue reading →

Pre-Release at the Jazz Gallery Thursday, December 6th 9:00 and 10:30PM sets

Thirteen years after arriving in New York City, trombonist/composer Ryan Keberle has performed with a jaw-dropping roster of legendary musicians across a vast array of styles. At 32, his resume is more eclectic and impressive than that of many musicians twice his age. Continue reading →

Austin, TX—November 30, 2012—Grammy-winning artist Esperanza Spalding makes her return to Austin City Limits (ACL) this weekend, and ACL announces the taping will be live-streamed in the U.S. on Sunday, December 2nd at 8pm Central Time. Fans can log-on to ACL’s YouTube www.youtube.com Channel to experience Esperanza Spalding perform live direct from The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. The live-stream will webcast the taping in its entirety and the broadcast episode will air February 23rd, 2013 on PBS stations as the full-hour season finale of ACL’s Season 38. Continue reading →